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[ErikN]

Right now I think there are three colors: Dark Red (manual rec), Red (subscription), Grey (cancelled).  However, for subscriptions that include variants of "do not record programs that have recorded in the past" everything is colored the same whether it is the will-actually-be-recorded showing or the likely-wont-be-recorded showing.

For example:
   Tues:  9pm   Episode 1 (red)
   Wed:  3am   Episode 1 (red)
   Sat:   8pm   Episode 1 (red)

Once the Tues recording completes, the Wed and Sat entries will disappear. However, until that occurs there is no visual difference.  I request that these likely-wont-be-recorded get colored yellow  e.g.
   Tues:  9pm   Episode 1 (red)
   Wed:  3am   Episode 1 (yellow)
   Sat:   8pm   Episode 1 (yellow)

The identical coloring has caused me to miss recordings where the EPG information was wrong or ambiguous. For example, sometimes reruns of 2-hour premier shows up in listings as two 1-hour episodes with the same title and episode number. The problem is that MC shows both as red even though the second will not be recorded once the first one goes through. I usually (but not always) catch this but it would be far more obvious if there was visual differentiation.

[RoderickGI]

This sort of thing has been asked for previously.

Bottom line, until the first recording is completed successfully, MC can't apply the "do not record programs that have recorded in the past" rule. What if the first recording fails? Perhaps a power failure, or the PC is off, or similar.

If MC doesn't plan to record the later viewings, it can't identify potential tuner availability issues. It doesn't have fuzzy logic to say, "Well, the second recording probably isn't going to be required, so I'll use the last tuner for this other program and hope for the best." If the first recording fails and MC is over-committed for tuners, will you be there to see a popup message asking you to prioritise which programs to record in the later time slots? Or do you set Priority on every one of your Recording Rules? I know I don't. I just mark a few rules as high priority usually, and leave the rest at the default Medium priority.

It's a can of worms really. Best to plan to record all showings, and then skip them once a successful recording is done, as MC does now.

For example, sometimes reruns of 2-hour premier shows up in listings as two 1-hour episodes with the same title and episode number.

That sounds like an EPG data issue, and not a MC issue. How does a two hour episode become two one hours episodes, both of which are the same?

What I see more often is the premier is episodes 1 and 2 shown back to back, and the later episodes 1 and 2 are shown separately in the EPG, but still possibly broadcast back to back. In that case, each separate episode should have different numbering and naming.

Only manual intervention can sort that sort of stuff out. Usually I watch the premier, then let the individual episodes record, fix the metadata which is often wrong in these circumstances, and delete the premier recording. That way I have individual recordings of all episodes, if I want to keep the program for a while.

[trajanmcgill]

Bottom line, until the first recording is completed successfully, MC can't apply the "do not record programs that have recorded in the past" rule. What if the first recording fails? Perhaps a power failure, or the PC is off, or similar.
...
It's a can of worms really. Best to plan to record all showings, and then skip them once a successful recording is done, as MC does now.

I don't think the request was to change the recording plan of MC, just the visual depiction of what was going to happen. According to that proposed color scheme, yellow would mean exactly what you are describing-- this program remains on the recording schedule for now...but it adds the information that the recording only will occur if a prior program that's also on the list doesn't successfully get recorded first. It doesn't have to open any cans of worms about priorities and tuner allocation; it is just a visual clue to the user that the program in question may or may not ever actually get recorded (and therefore that manually marking it for recording is a good idea if the user wants to make sure it is recorded).

[Yaobing]

In most cases there is no clear way of distinguishing which instance is more likely to be recorded than other instances.  Therefore all will equally likely to be recorded, until one actually gets completed.

It is possibly OK for me add another icon color and put ALL such likely to be recorded the same category.

[trajanmcgill]

In most cases there is no clear way of distinguishing which instance is more likely to be recorded than other instances.

Huh. How come? Wouldn't the fact that one comes sooner than another make it more likely to be recorded? It would seem to me that the recording plan is essentially fully deterministic at any given time, only changing when the user modifies the recording schedule or if the program guide data changes. I can't think of what variables are in play that wouldn't be known until the moment of recording.

[ErikN]

Just to confirm, trajanmcgill is correct. I am only asking for a color change not a recording behavior change. I'm uncertain why it is complicated but, for icon coloring purposes only, assume recordings will succeed and color the earliest red and all later duplicates yellow. If there is a tie, color both red (because MC will actually record both ... I have seen this too ... and it will truncate which ever ends last ... but I digress).
   Tues:  9pm   Episode 1 (red)
   Wed:  3am   Episode 1 (yellow)
   Sat:   8pm   Episode 1 (yellow)

It would be extremely helpful to have a purely visual indication of what MC is considering a duplicate so users can more easily tell what is and isn't going to be recorded assuming everything goes as planned.

In most cases there is no clear way of distinguishing which instance is more likely to be recorded than other instances.

While I try not to compare JRiver MC to other platforms, I believe it is more common for PVR software to only visually show what will likely be recorded and leave duplicate management behind the scenes. Should a recording fail then, of coarse, they all fall back to the next in line and visually indicate as much. This isn't a functional difference only a visual/indication difference.

[Yaobing]

Huh. How come? Wouldn't the fact that one comes sooner than another make it more likely to be recorded? It would seem to me that the recording plan is essentially fully deterministic at any given time, only changing when the user modifies the recording schedule or if the program guide data changes. I can't think of what variables are in play that wouldn't be known until the moment of recording.

Oh, yeah, of course.